DHS, June 28, 2024 "Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas today announced the extension and redesignation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, from Aug. 4, 2024...
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo What will it mean for immigration litigation? Superlitigator Brian Green says, "The overruling of Chevron opens the door to U.S. federal judges scrutinizing...
OFLC, June 26, 2024 "On November 15, 2021, the Employment and Training Administration issued a Federal Register notice (FRN) informing the public that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification ...
Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box, June 25, 2024 "On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced two new immigration initiatives aimed at keeping families together. The first is a “parole...
Alfaro Manzano v. Garland "Petitioner Gerson Eduardo Alfaro Manzano, a native and citizen of El Salvador, preached to the youth of his hometown to convince them to embrace religion instead of joining...
NYLAG v. BIA
"Plaintiff-Appellant New York Legal Assistance Group (“NYLAG”) seeks access to non-precedential “unpublished opinions” issued by Defendant-Appellee the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) in immigration cases. NYLAG wants to consult the opinions, which are not routinely made available to the public, to aid in its representation of low-income clients in removal and asylum proceedings. NYLAG asserts that the BIA’s failure to make the opinions publicly available violates the agency’s affirmative obligation under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2), to “make available for public inspection in an electronic format final opinions . . . [and] orders, made in the adjudication of cases.” In this action under FOIA’s remedial provision, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), which authorizes district courts “to enjoin the agency from withholding agency records and to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld from the complainant,” NYLAG seeks an order requiring the BIA to make available to the public all unpublished opinions issued since November 1, 1996, as well as future unpublished opinions. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Paul A. Crotty, J.) dismissed the case, concluding that FOIA’s remedial provision does not authorize district courts to order agencies to make records publicly available. We conclude that FOIA’s remedial provision authorizes the relief NYLAG seeks. FOIA’s text, read in light of its history and purpose, empowers district courts to order agencies to comply with their affirmative disclosure obligations under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2), including the obligation to make certain documents publicly available. We therefore VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."